Property Management

Exam rule

Property management turns an owner's plan into daily action. The manager protects income, condition, service and long-term value. Common functions include leasing, rent collection, maintenance, staffing, purchasing, budgeting, marketing, records and reports to the owner. Managers work with office, retail, residential, condominium and co-op property. A resident manager handles daily matters at or near one property. The title alone does not decide whether a license is needed, because New York looks at the work, the client and the payment. Renting, negotiating a rental or collecting rent for another, for pay, is brokerage. A broker may perform that work through properly associated licensees. A salesperson cannot run an independent management business of their own. An owner managing their own property is not working for another, and maintenance alone does not become brokerage merely because someone is paid for it. The question changes when the worker starts negotiating leases or collecting rent for an owner. Property management education and professional designations can build skill, but they never replace a New York license when Article 12-A requires one. Strong managers understand people, buildings, money, law, markets and risk. That is a wide range. They also know when to call a lawyer, an accountant, an engineer or a licensed trade professional.

Exam rule

A management proposal helps an owner compare a manager's plan, services, staffing and price. It is not the final contract. The signed management agreement creates the agency and controls the relationship, and it should be written, signed and matched to the property. The syllabus lists nine agreement subjects. Identify the property and the agreement's length. State the manager's authority and reporting duties. Explain the management fee and other compensation. Assign accounting responsibilities. Address insurance and risk management. Set the form and timing of reports. State the owner's responsibilities and objectives. Explain how and why the agreement may end. A useful authority section covers leasing, rent changes, vendor contracts, hiring and spending, and it should set emergency power and approval limits. Accounting terms should cover the bank accounts, the supporting records, the reconciliations and the owner's access to all of it. Termination terms should protect records, keys, contracts, funds, deposits and open work orders during the handoff. The broker needs owner authorization before offering space. The broker also needs consent before placing a sign on the property. A party signing a manager-prepared agreement must receive a copy promptly, and clear writing never expands the manager's license or permits an illegal direction.

Exam rule

The syllabus calls the property manager a general agent, and a general agent handles a continuing range of authorized acts for the principal. The manager is also a fiduciary, and loyalty means placing the owner's lawful interest ahead of any hidden personal benefit. Obedience has a limit: the manager follows only lawful instructions within the agency's authority. Care calls for informed decisions, sound records and qualified help when the work requires it. Disclosure means sharing material facts and conflicts. When a manager handles the owner's money or property, each receipt, payment and asset needs a clear record. That is accounting. Confidentiality protects what the manager should not misuse. New York adds a spending rule. A managing broker cannot keep a commission, rebate or profit on client expenditures without full knowledge and consent. The owner sets four subjects: goals, maintenance criteria, the project's future and reporting. Goals might favor cash flow, occupancy, retention, repositioning or long-term value, and the choice shapes everything that follows. The owner sets the level of service and building care. The manager uses those standards to judge daily repairs. The future plan shapes today's leases, repairs and capital work. Reports matter. They compare income, expenses and upkeep with the owner's plan, so the owner can see whether the manager is on course. Risk management finds possible losses and chooses a response. A risk may be avoided, reduced, transferred through insurance or contracts, or retained with planned funds. The management agreement defines the manager's authority, while law sets the floor the owner cannot lower. An owner cannot authorize discrimination, unsafe conditions, commingling or an unlawful eviction.

Exam rule

The lessor gives the right to occupy, and the lessee receives it. A tenancy for years lasts for a definite term, which can be shorter than one year. Preventative maintenance, also called preventive maintenance, happens before failure, while corrective maintenance fixes a known defect after it appears. A work-order system should rank life safety, essential services, active damage and routine service. Residential leases carry a warranty of habitability, so the home and related common areas must remain fit and free from dangerous conditions. A tenant cannot waive it. Actual eviction physically removes or excludes the tenant, while constructive eviction can arise from serious interference when the tenant leaves the affected premises. A manager should document complaints, access, work, notices and follow-up. Rent collection has its own sequence. Use the due date stated in the lease. If rent is not received within five days, the landlord or agent must act, and written notice of that failure generally goes to the tenant by certified mail. Section 235-e(d) allows a limited co-op exception. Another mail method may be stated in the proprietary lease or occupancy agreement. A nonpayment case generally needs a written rent demand giving at least fourteen days. That demand must include or attach the required Good Cause coverage notice. The court process comes before a warrant and lawful removal. Lock changes, force and service shutoffs are not collection tools. A large rent increase or nonrenewal can require advance notice, and an increase of at least five percent can trigger the rule. The period is thirty, sixty or ninety days. Occupancy or lease length sets the period. The section 226-c notice must include the Good Cause coverage notice, even if the unit is exempt. When a residential tenant leaves early, the landlord must take reasonable steps to rent again. State rules are only the starting point, so managers must also check local codes, rent regulation and the governing lease. New York City adds the FARE Act for residential rentals. Since June 11, 2025, a landlord or the landlord's listing agent may not make a tenant pay the listing agent's fee. A tenant may still choose and pay an agent the tenant hired. The fee disclosure comes before the lease is signed, and it lists each charge the prospective tenant must pay. Listings must disclose fees in a clear and conspicuous way. The rule assigns the fee to the party who hired the broker and requires transparent tenant charges; it does not make every broker service free. A landlord or broker cannot require a tenant to hire a broker to obtain a rental. This includes a dual agent. Before lease signing, the tenant signs the itemized fee disclosure and receives a copy. The landlord or agent keeps the signed disclosure for three years. Disclosure does not authorize a fee that another rule prohibits. Publishing a residential rental listing creates a rebuttable presumption that the landlord gave permission. An agent who lists with that permission is a listing agent and cannot charge the tenant for that service.

Exam rule

A property manager coordinates people before problems reach the owner. The core process is simple: spot the need, assign the work and check the result. Good supervision gives staff clear goals and dates, then checks the work. Staff records should show assignments, training, incidents and completed work. Union agreements can control jobs, hours, overtime and grievance steps. Purchasing should use defined authority, fair comparisons and disclosure of any conflict that arises. A manager should check vendor insurance, qualifications, scope, price and schedule. Then verify completion. No hidden vendor benefit belongs in the manager's pocket. Building knowledge begins with triage. Isolate a hazard, record what happened and bring in qualified help instead of guessing at a repair. Managers monitor HVAC, chillers, structure, waterproofing, plumbing and electrical service, along with gas, oil, water, elevators, security, alarms and routine maintenance. Warning signs lead to safe isolation, records and qualified help. Leasing skills include space planning, area design and building layout. A marketing plan states the property's position, lawful audience, message, channels, budget, schedule and measures, and it should track inquiries, tours, applications, leases, cost and vacancy. Keep the channels that produce qualified inquiries and change those that do not, while applying consistent, lawful standards to marketing and screening. Associated licensees provide New York's fair housing notice at first substantive contact. Housing providers also owe notice about disability accommodations and modifications. Managers must understand local, state and national codes, and they should recognize when permits, inspections or certificates apply. Most of New York follows the Uniform Code. New York City uses its own. Ecology is part of the job. Buildings affect air, water, soil and occupants. Before most pre-1978 residential leases, federal lead disclosures and records apply. The manager names the issue, then brings in a trained professional who can assess it and do the work safely. The syllabus also expects working knowledge of appraisal, finance, money markets, depreciation, trends, local conditions and construction.

Exam rule

An operating budget plans a normal year of property income and costs, and the math follows one path. Start with all scheduled rent at full occupancy. This is potential gross income. Subtract vacancy and credit loss. Add other property income. The result is effective gross income. Subtract allowed operating expenses. The result is net operating income, or NOI. The course source shows replacement reserves before NOI. Industry reports sometimes put them below it. Follow the convention the question states. Operating expenses can include payroll, utilities, repairs, insurance, property taxes, management and routine contracts. Debt service, income taxes, depreciation and major capital work are not. A variable expense changes with occupancy, use or service demand. Some expenses remain relatively fixed during the budget period. A capital expense adds, replaces or substantially improves a long-lived asset, so a roof replacement is capital work while a small roof repair is normally operating work. A capital reserve budget sets aside funds for major future replacements and improvements. A stabilized budget estimates normal performance once temporary lease-up, vacancy or unusual expenses settle. Stabilized never means perfect or fully occupied. A budget becomes useful when the manager compares it with actual results, and a variance report names the difference, explains the cause and states the response. A forecast updates the likely year-end result. Connect each variance to cash, service, risk and the owner's plan.

Exam rule

A rent roll is the property's organized lease schedule, and it normally lists units, tenants, lease dates, rent, concessions, deposits, arrears and occupancy. The roll must agree with the leases, amendments, renewals and payment records. A ledger shows the transactions behind each balance. Bank reconciliation compares the books with the bank and explains every difference. A property management report turns records into decisions. Useful sections cover occupancy, leasing, collections, arrears, income, expenses, variances, cash and open work orders. The report should also cover capital projects, claims, incidents, compliance, risks and any owner decisions that are needed. Monthly reports support quick action. Yearly reports show the full period, the trends and the results against plan. Other people's money needs stronger controls, so a broker keeps principal funds separate from personal funds. The broker uses a special federally insured account. The money goes in within three business days. The money must remain secure until deposited. The broker accounts to the client and remits unspent money within a reasonable time. Tenant security remains the tenant's money and cannot be commingled, and the holder gives written bank and deposit information after placing it with a banking organization. Property with six or more units needs an interest-bearing security account. Current New York rules limit covered residential deposits to one month's rent, and they require move-in and requested move-out inspection procedures. Valid deductions exclude ordinary wear. They must be itemized. The remaining deposit must be returned within fourteen days after the tenant leaves. Rent-stabilized and other covered units follow parallel rules under the correct section. Cash residential rent requires an immediate written receipt. An indirect covered payment gets one within fifteen days. Keep cash-rent records for at least three years.

Exam rule

The basic controls stay the same in each market. What changes is the building, and what managers watch in it. Office managers focus on access, systems, service contracts, lease dates and tenant work, and they track usable space, shared areas and plans for outages. Retail managers study traffic, visibility, tenant mix, sales, hours and the common areas that tie them together. Anchor stores draw shoppers who can support smaller tenants, so if one closes, other leases and the marketing plan may be affected. Residential managers focus on homes, safety, privacy, deposits, notices, fair housing, service and turnover. Condominium managers work with unit owners, a board, common elements, bylaws, budgets and common charges. Cooperative managers work with a corporation, shareholders and proprietary leases, and they also follow house rules, maintenance charges and board decisions. The manager serves the entity named in the agreement, and does not serve each resident as a separate client. A planned unit development, or PUD, may combine uses and shared areas under one approved plan. Management links the shared systems, documents and costs. Management office operations connect every market. The office routes calls, work orders, leasing, payments, complaints, emergencies and owner approvals, and it protects personal information, contracts, keys and bank access. A useful dashboard tracks open items, deadlines, responsible people and completed work. Reports should fit the market. An office owner needs lease dates and system reliability. A retail owner needs traffic and tenant mix. A residential owner needs collections, service and compliance. A board needs cost, project and reserve information.